bakerb316

Bought some of these from a discount store a while ago. Expiration date in 2014 - 2015 range (if I remember correctly). Thought that some of them were dead because they "didn't work" in my kids toys. Checked them with a battery checker and they were actually reverse polarized (positive where the negative was supposed to be and vice verse)! Buyer beware!

Let's say that you can get 100 charges out of a single battery. Many manufacturers say you can get 1000, but I often find that's BS. I don't know a true number but we'll low-ball to illustrate a point and say you'll only get 10% of that. So let's assume you'll get 100 charges per battery. So, you are getting 400 uses (ostensibly batteries) for $50. (You will get more, but again, just for demonstration..)

Cost per battery: $0.13.

I haven't bought batteries in almost 3 years. The next time I do, I'm sure the batteries I buy will last the same amount of time. Plus, since I already have my great Lacrosse charger, my cost per battery will be even lower now that I don't have that initial investment to subsidize. Rechargeable all the way.

Your math may be correct but you didn't account for a couple other factors:

1. Cost of electricity to charge the batteries.
2. Inconvenience factor to have to wait for the charge cycle to complete.
3. Regular batteries have been engineered to have a low-toxicity so they can be thrown away and put into the landfill. Rechargeable Nicads have cadmium, and NiMh are less toxic than Nicads, but it is still recommended that they be recycled instead of thrown away.
4. The shelf-life of a rechargeable is horrible. Put one in a clock that requires a AA battery and it will be dead in 30 days but an Alkaline will last about a year.
5. The voltage is only 1.2V (or 1.25) for rechargeable and 1.5 for regular. This voltage difference can cause some devices to not function -- especially when they require 8 of them to make 12 volts. For example, there are some 5W Walkie-Talkies that require 10 rechargeable or 8 Alkaline and then you insert dummy batteries to take up the rest of the space.
6. When you have several rechargeable batteries and some go bad, it's hard to tell if the battery needs charging or is dead and needs replacing. So after sorting through a bucket of Alkaline batteries, I can test them and if they are low in energy, I throw them away. If I test a rechargeable and it shows bad, do I throw it away or charge it -- I find myself charging up dead batteries only to find it's still not charged and I don't notice until the device doesn't work and I then get frustrated.

I'm sure there's more I could add but I've already typed enough for now.

cengland0

bakerb316 wrote:Bought some of these from a discount store a while ago. Expiration date in 2014 - 2015 range (if I remember correctly). Thought that some of them were dead because they "didn't work" in my kids toys. Checked them with a battery checker and they were actually reverse polarized (positive where the negative was supposed to be and vice verse)! Buyer beware!

The battery was probably reverse charged while it was in the toy. Since it discharged before the other batteries, it was reverse charged by the other batteries.

This is a common problem when batteries are not properly matched or when you put one battery in backwards.

When using multiple batteries they should have the same amount of charge. Otherwise one will go dead before the others and it can be reverse charged by the other battery (when connected in series).

Since these are not rechargeable batteries, you're lucky it didn't activate the safety vent leading to alkaline electrolyte leakage destroying the battery compartment.

xtreemsaver

0ldeag1e

cengland0 wrote:The issue about 6V lantern batteries containing 32 AA or 4 standards D-cells has been a hoax that was debunked by Snopes awhile ago. The lantern batteries do usually contain 4 individual cells wired in series but they are not of a standard size to be used by consumers.

Just FYI, there are a variety of D-cell adaptors for 6-volt lantern battery-packs at Amazon - Rayovac makes 'em as does Lumilite (see http://www.amazon.com/Lumilite-4850-Krypton-Rubberized-Position/dp/B004S7YESK/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1352300108&sr=8-5&keywords=6v+d+cells) I think Coleman does too.

vschweitzer

Hurricane Relief efforts in NY/NJ desperate for batteries as so many still living without power. Maybe WOOT could offer free shipping on donations or increase the max we can purchase - would like to send 3 packs to multiple org's.

stryper2000

radi0j0hn wrote:You beat me to it! These are just cheap Chinese cells with a former big name branded on them. Dollar stores have them all the time with other former well-known names such as Sunbeam, etc.

also aren't most dollar store brand batteries of the "Heavy Duty" Variety, I know the one's at Dollar tree are usually those kind

CuzzinMerl

I was in the check-out line at a grocery store when the lady asked me if I would like to make a donation to Children's Hospital. I told her, "Sure, I think I have a couple kids I could do without. When can I drop them off?"

MyronWooley

I bought a 100-pack of the very same batteries at Fry's Electronics. They are the worst batteries I have ever purchased. Some were DOA, the ones that did work died quickly, and because they have a propensity for leaking, I now have two ruined X-Box 360 wireless controllers and a custom, solid cherry office cabinet top with an electrolyte burn that goes through the finish and into the wood. About $750 to repair, with no recourse.

Kimrod

Myron said, "I bought a 100-pack of the very same batteries at Fry's Electronics. They are the worst batteries I have ever purchased. Some were DOA, the ones that did work died quickly, and because they have a propensity for leaking, I now have two ruined X-Box 360 wireless controllers and a custom, solid cherry office cabinet top with an electrolyte burn that goes through the finish and into the wood. About $750 to repair, with no recourse."

I agree Myron, they totally suck and will never buy batteries on Woot again. Some deal. Bleah!

gak0090

cengland0 wrote:Your math may be correct but you didn't account for a couple other factors:

1. Cost of electricity to charge the batteries.
2. Inconvenience factor to have to wait for the charge cycle to complete.
3. Regular batteries have been engineered to have a low-toxicity so they can be thrown away and put into the landfill. Rechargeable Nicads have cadmium, and NiMh are less toxic than Nicads, but it is still recommended that they be recycled instead of thrown away.
4. The shelf-life of a rechargeable is horrible. Put one in a clock that requires a AA battery and it will be dead in 30 days but an Alkaline will last about a year.
5. The voltage is only 1.2V (or 1.25) for rechargeable and 1.5 for regular. This voltage difference can cause some devices to not function -- especially when they require 8 of them to make 12 volts. For example, there are some 5W Walkie-Talkies that require 10 rechargeable or 8 Alkaline and then you insert dummy batteries to take up the rest of the space.
6. When you have several rechargeable batteries and some go bad, it's hard to tell if the battery needs charging or is dead and needs replacing. So after sorting through a bucket of Alkaline batteries, I can test them and if they are low in energy, I throw them away. If I test a rechargeable and it shows bad, do I throw it away or charge it -- I find myself charging up dead batteries only to find it's still not charged and I don't notice until the device doesn't work and I then get frustrated.

I'm sure there's more I could add but I've already typed enough for now.

You brought up a lot of great points about not using rechargeables- the only one you left out , is that it is a major pain in the:

Yeah - I get it, I'm not green...but until rechargeables can recharge themselves without any intervention from me- they are no go.

chipmunkofdoom2

cengland0 wrote:Your math may be correct but you didn't account for a couple other factors:

1. Cost of electricity to charge the batteries.
2. Inconvenience factor to have to wait for the charge cycle to complete.
3. Regular batteries have been engineered to have a low-toxicity so they can be thrown away and put into the landfill. Rechargeable Nicads have cadmium, and NiMh are less toxic than Nicads, but it is still recommended that they be recycled instead of thrown away.
4. The shelf-life of a rechargeable is horrible. Put one in a clock that requires a AA battery and it will be dead in 30 days but an Alkaline will last about a year.
5. The voltage is only 1.2V (or 1.25) for rechargeable and 1.5 for regular. This voltage difference can cause some devices to not function -- especially when they require 8 of them to make 12 volts. For example, there are some 5W Walkie-Talkies that require 10 rechargeable or 8 Alkaline and then you insert dummy batteries to take up the rest of the space.
6. When you have several rechargeable batteries and some go bad, it's hard to tell if the battery needs charging or is dead and needs replacing. So after sorting through a bucket of Alkaline batteries, I can test them and if they are low in energy, I throw them away. If I test a rechargeable and it shows bad, do I throw it away or charge it -- I find myself charging up dead batteries only to find it's still not charged and I don't notice until the device doesn't work and I then get frustrated.

I'm sure there's more I could add but I've already typed enough for now.

1. Wattage = Voltage x Amps.. so a rechargeable AA battery at 1.25v and 2000mAh would take 2.5W to charge (we'll round off to 3 for inefficiency). I don't know how much you pay for a kWh, but for me that's less than a drop in the bucket.
2. Buy quality, low self-discharge batteries and have extras on hand?
3. Okay.. after 3 years you can go to your local municipality to recycle? Plus, if you get 100 charges out of a rechargeable, you will have thrown away 100 regular batteries for that one rechargeable you have to recycle. Doesn't seem like even close to being even. Most rechargeable are NiMh now BTW.
4. See number two. Not sure what batteries you're using, but my AAs are almost all Sony CycleEnergys. After sitting in a drawer charged for what I would estimate a few months, I can pull them out and have normal use out of them.
5. Sorry, I shouldn't have said that rechargeable will work perfectly, just as well as regular batteries, with absolutely no caveats whatsoever. Oh wait, I didn't? I haven't had one application out of dozens that rechargeable didn't function just fine in.
6. See #2. If a rechargeable gets to the point where it's no good anymore, a smart charger (like the $40 Lacrosse model on Amazon) will tell you. Most of the time, if the battery won't hold a charge, the charger won't charge it.

It's fine if you don't like rechargeable batteries or are too lazy to pop them in a charger and keep spares around.. you're right, they're not suitable for every single application imaginable. Probably only 98% of products will work the exact same with rechargeable as they will with regular batteries. You are welcome to your own opinion, and I don't expect to convince you to buy rechargeable batteries, but a lot of your points as to why regular batteries are better seem to be misconceptions about how rechargeable work, or misconceptions based on inferior chargers or batteries. A quality charger with quality rechargeable will give you hundreds of cycles of use that in almost all cases will be comparable to standard batteries, and will be cheaper to boot.

PocketBrain

cengland0 wrote:The issue about 6V lantern batteries containing 32 AA or 4 standards D-cells has been a hoax that was debunked by Snopes awhile ago. The lantern batteries do usually contain 4 individual cells wired in series but they are not of a standard size to be used by consumers.

Your snopes link shows the AA "hack" not the actually existant D-cells (or F cells) in the 6V lantern battery. Yes, I thought this video was funny when I first saw it, also the one where they showed over 1500 AA batteries coming out of a car battery. But D cells inside a 6V lantern battery is a known thing and real, so no need to go and correct the Wikipedia article on lantern batteries. This practice is a practical way of meeting the relatively small demand for 6V lantern cells without having to retool for the F cell size.

There's actually a disturbing number of YouTube videos of people cutting open lantern batteries to be disappointed by the D cells or F cells they found inside. Lots of them.

Thanks to up-to-the-minute tracking, I don't track my package so much as stalk it.

ohlfahrt

I won't buy another cheapo battery from any source; the Fujis I bought from Woot a while back are useable only in such low demand applications as mice and remotes.

FWIW, I did need quality AAs a couple of weeks ago. Went to Home Depot and got a top name brand in bulk at competitively fair price. And, I feel comfortable installing them in the emergency flashlights that I keep in the family cars.

dshoener

Wow, wish I had known that a few years ago...went on a trip out of the country and bought a few packs of the cheap ones at the dollar store for backup. Tried them all, none worked, Never even occurred to me they might have poles reversed.

bakerb316 wrote:Bought some of these from a discount store a while ago. Expiration date in 2014 - 2015 range (if I remember correctly). Thought that some of them were dead because they "didn't work" in my kids toys. Checked them with a battery checker and they were actually reverse polarized (positive where the negative was supposed to be and vice verse)! Buyer beware!

linningguo

dshoener wrote:Wow, wish I had known that a few years ago...went on a trip out of the country and bought a few packs of the cheap ones at the dollar store for backup. Tried them all, none worked, Never even occurred to me they might have poles reversed.

I agree, most of dollar store batteries are not good because it's heavy duty, you will think "Heavy duty" is good one, not at all, it's much less performance than "Alkaline", more importantly, the "Heavy duty" don't work at digital camera or wii remote at all. Make sure to pick Alkaline.

whatsupchuck

I have purchased these very batteries at a certain big box electronics store in the past, in large quantity. Never again. I'm in full agreement with those who say that these are cheap, low performing batteries. The Kodak batteries that Woot offered some time ago, OTOH, are working out well.

jobimoon

fubart wrote:These batteries, which I have purchased before, are 100% crap. Even in my wireless mouse, they last about 4-5 days, tops. Crap. Free would be too expensive. C'mon, Woot, you can do better than this.

I bought these before. Check your mouse. I had my battery in my wireless mouse for at least 4 months and still going.

linningguo

dshoener wrote:Wow, wish I had known that a few years ago...went on a trip out of the country and bought a few packs of the cheap ones at the dollar store for backup. Tried them all, none worked, Never even occurred to me they might have poles reversed.

Pick fresh batteries! The "alkaline battery" should last long time, Duracell battery are "10 years" shelf life now, which means expired "2022", I won't buy expiration under "2018" alkaline batteries. But "Heavy duty battery" have much shorter shelf life, normally 3 years, anyway, not smart buy for "Heavy duty"

linningguo

bakerb316 wrote:Bought some of these from a discount store a while ago. Expiration date in 2014 - 2015 range (if I remember correctly). Thought that some of them were dead because they "didn't work" in my kids toys. Checked them with a battery checker and they were actually reverse polarized (positive where the negative was supposed to be and vice verse)! Buyer beware!

That's strange! Battery can't be reverse polarized, the top with cap is all way positive and bottom is negative, except 9V, have both positive and negative on top, never saw batteries like what you describe

aquaholik8

I agree, the last time I ordered 3 sets of batteries for my xbox, computer mouse and keyboard and they don't last long at all. I wish they did because it is a good deal for the amount of batteries that you receive.

D300

The Sanyo Eneloop batteries are great you can buy 8 to 12 of them for the cost of this deal//7 to 17$, I have some that are 5 years old, I use them in my Nikon SB 800s and this is a demanding job for them. Search Thomas + Sanyo Eneloop batteries, you will not regret it and you will do the environment a favor.

tonyzany23

Well, Amazon has three ratings on these AC Delco batteries that are 5 out of 5 stars and one review that gives them 3.5 stars! The description on these say they will last in storage till 2018! I've read about these brand on many websites that give them high praise for the price! As for any dollar store batteries I've ever boughten are usually old stock! Also it would be nice if people would give a review based on the brand offered, the battery size, and keep there social comments for Facebook!

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